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scottjpalmer

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#215278 20-Jun-2017 11:24
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Hi all

I have just built a new house and have initially signed up with Mercury as they were able to arrange the meter install (not all retailers can).

Their online usage meter called "Gem" varies between 3-5 days delay from live eg right now it shows up until Thursday 15th June.

Mercury tell me this is normal which seems a bit ridiculous in this age of technology. Is it the same for you on Mercury? I'm pretty sure other retailers are live or close to?

Cheers


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plas
453 posts

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  #1803928 20-Jun-2017 11:33
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I wish it was live, I have the same 3-5 day delay with Powershop.




scottjpalmer

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  #1803931 20-Jun-2017 11:35
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plas:

I wish it was live, I have the same 3-5 day delay with Powershop.



Ahh, thanks, here I was assuming it was live for techy retailers like Powershop and not so live for more traditional ones.

Wiggum
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  #1803934 20-Jun-2017 11:38
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scottjpalmer:
plas:

 

I wish it was live, I have the same 3-5 day delay with Powershop.

 



Ahh, thanks, here I was assuming it was live for techy retailers like Powershop and not so live for more traditional ones.

 

Same delays with Flick




eph

eph
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  #1803935 20-Jun-2017 11:39
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I think it depends on how often they poll the data from the meters. For TOU (time of use) consumers they only have to report in 30 mins chunks so that would be their finest usage granularity (not sure how Flick works, is it minute based pricing?).

 

The retailer only have to gather the data really only once a month but the data is usually provided by the metering company (which is usally not the same) more often. I assume increased polling frequency would mean increased cost. So if say Metrix provides the data only twice a week you'd see the delay you are seeing. With different metering company the frequency might be different...


eph

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  #1803937 20-Jun-2017 11:45
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scottjpalmer:
plas:

 

I wish it was live, I have the same 3-5 day delay with Powershop.

 



Ahh, thanks, here I was assuming it was live for techy retailers like Powershop and not so live for more traditional ones.

 

They are all getting data from metering companies, retailers are not really in control of the data (unless they own the meter).


scottjpalmer

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  #1803938 20-Jun-2017 11:48
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Thanks for the info.

I'm in the Wairarapa. The data is in half hour intervals.


timmmay
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  #1803948 20-Jun-2017 12:14
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Flick told me the bottleneck was getting data from the meter company / provider to them. My understanding is the data is sent from the meter at midnight each night, some kind of processing may be done by whoever receives it, then it goes on to the retailer 1-2 days later.


 
 
 

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davidcole
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  #1803949 20-Jun-2017 12:16
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Genesis seem to be 48 hours.

 

 

 

But stupidly their hourly usage graph doesn't distinguish between am and pm, so who knows it the 4kw was am or pm.





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  #1803958 20-Jun-2017 12:24
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eph:

 

I think it depends on how often they poll the data from the meters. For TOU (time of use) consumers they only have to report in 30 mins chunks so that would be their finest usage granularity (not sure how Flick works, is it minute based pricing?).

 

The retailer only have to gather the data really only once a month but the data is usually provided by the metering company (which is usally not the same) more often. I assume increased polling frequency would mean increased cost. So if say Metrix provides the data only twice a week you'd see the delay you are seeing. With different metering company the frequency might be different...

 

 

Unless there has been a drastic change in the last few years, these so-called 'smart' meters are just old-fashioned thick as a short plank dumb meters with a cellular (2G / GPRS) modem built in.
They collect half-hour interval data, and the modem calls home every night and uploads the last week's or fortnight's data - this is so that if they miss a day or two, it will be picked up as soon as comms come back on.
The data gets input into a Time Of Use billing data collection system and from there onto a customer-accessible web portal and the customer billing system (this may in some cases be the same as the TOU data collection system)

 

So, the most up-to-date and fine-grained data possibly accessible to the customer (i.e. 'muggins', or 'me') is half-hour intervals and from yesterday or the day before.

 

This suits the retailer fine, as half-hour interval data is what the wholesale electricity market system is based on.

 

For real-time monitoring - let alone control - of your load, it's about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
If you want to do real-time monitoring of your load there are some people on here who can help you bodge up a system that uses the little blinking light on the meter to drive a Pi-based microcontroller, or you can buy and install a measurement and control device that sits on your side of the meter - I think the solar power folks do that to make sure you use the solar electricity wisely and send as little as possible back to the grid. But "it ain't cheap!" frown

 

 


antoniosk
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  #1803959 20-Jun-2017 12:29
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Genesis is 2 days behind.

 

AMS - Advanced Meter Systems - makes the info available at 30min intervals I believe, most providers aggregate to an hour band, and then update as they see fit. It's a lot of data to capture store and make available, so i would not be surprised if most providers are trying to manage their costs .

 

 

 

 





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eph

eph
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  #1803963 20-Jun-2017 12:42
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PolicyGuy:

 

eph:

 

I think it depends on how often they poll the data from the meters. For TOU (time of use) consumers they only have to report in 30 mins chunks so that would be their finest usage granularity (not sure how Flick works, is it minute based pricing?).

 

The retailer only have to gather the data really only once a month but the data is usually provided by the metering company (which is usally not the same) more often. I assume increased polling frequency would mean increased cost. So if say Metrix provides the data only twice a week you'd see the delay you are seeing. With different metering company the frequency might be different...

 

 

Unless there has been a drastic change in the last few years, these so-called 'smart' meters are just old-fashioned thick as a short plank dumb meters with a cellular (2G / GPRS) modem built in.
They collect half-hour interval data, and the modem calls home every night and uploads the last week's or fortnight's data - this is so that if they miss a day or two, it will be picked up as soon as comms come back on.
The data gets input into a Time Of Use billing data collection system and from there onto a customer-accessible web portal and the customer billing system (this may in some cases be the same as the TOU data collection system)

 

So, the most up-to-date and fine-grained data possibly accessible to the customer (i.e. 'muggins', or 'me') is half-hour intervals and from yesterday or the day before.

 

This suits the retailer fine, as half-hour interval data is what the wholesale electricity market system is based on.

 

For real-time monitoring - let alone control - of your load, it's about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
If you want to do real-time monitoring of your load there are some people on here who can help you bodge up a system that uses the little blinking light on the meter to drive a Pi-based microcontroller, or you can buy and install a measurement and control device that sits on your side of the meter - I think the solar power folks do that to make sure you use the solar electricity wisely and send as little as possible back to the grid. But "it ain't cheap!" frown

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are correct. I used to work for company which was turning (mostly) dump meters into smart meters by attaching little box which would count the pulses (through wired) and used modem to communicate with the office. Anybody can cook up something like that, but you'd have to use the LEDs since the wired pulse outputs are usually underneath the cover (and you'd have to break the metering company seal).

 

If you want to be in control you can use (something like) Pulse sensor.

 

 


MaxLV
656 posts

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  #1804421 20-Jun-2017 23:41
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scottjpalmer: Hi all

I have just built a new house and have initially signed up with Mercury as they were able to arrange the meter install (not all retailers can).

Their online usage meter called "Gem" varies between 3-5 days delay from live eg right now it shows up until Thursday 15th June.

Mercury tell me this is normal which seems a bit ridiculous in this age of technology. Is it the same for you on Mercury? I'm pretty sure other retailers are live or close to?

Cheers

 

 

 

I have a Genesis Energy smart meter...

 

When it was first installed several years ago, it was always at least a week behind.

 

Now it's only 24 hours behind, and their website allows be to check whenever I like to see what my power usage has been from 24 hours ago or to any other previous date. It also gives me a daily total of what my power bill has been for the current month up to the previous day, and an estimate of what my monthly bill will be.  

 

They also have a phone app that can give you readings for up to the previous hour. It's not available for my Windows phone, but I use the app on my android tablet.


Aredwood
3885 posts

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  #1804422 21-Jun-2017 00:26

scottjpalmer: Hi all

I have just built a new house and have initially signed up with Mercury as they were able to arrange the meter install (not all retailers can).

Their online usage meter called "Gem" varies between 3-5 days delay from live eg right now it shows up until Thursday 15th June.

Mercury tell me this is normal which seems a bit ridiculous in this age of technology. Is it the same for you on Mercury? I'm pretty sure other retailers are live or close to?

Cheers

 

Problem is that Metrix (who are owned by Mercury) normally use the Elster Grex meters. They don't even have a blinking LED to indicate your current draw. Instead they have an icon on the same LCD screen that has the usage information on it. So alot harder to interface another device to.






Paul1977
5039 posts

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  #1804512 21-Jun-2017 10:46
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I'm with Powershop.

 

I generally get the full breakdown 2 days later. E.g. Today is Wednesday and I can see all of Monday's data.

 

I usually get a total for the previous day, but no breakdown until the day after. E.g. Today is Wednesday and it says my total for Tuesday was 30.0 kWh, but there is no breakdown of the usage. However I think this might just be an estimate, as the total sometimes changes the following day when the full breakdown becomes available.


mattrix
193 posts

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  #1804513 21-Jun-2017 10:50
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Aredwood:

 

Problem is that Metrix (who are owned by Mercury) normally use the Elster Grex meters. They don't even have a blinking LED to indicate your current draw. Instead they have an icon on the same LCD screen that has the usage information on it. So alot harder to interface another device to.

 

 

There is always the CT sensor option which seems a lot easier thank counting blinks??

Here's a great post on making your own:
http://bogdan.nimblex.net/diy/2017/04/19/apartment-energy-monitor.html


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